Understanding Burma: An Evening With Tim Aye Hardy (Thursday, July 1st)

“In June 1988, six military intelligence agents knocked on my door in Rangoon in the middle of the night. They had come to arrest me for speaking out against the regime during the student uprising that came to be known as the ‘8888 Uprising’ . . . I was one of the lucky few. Up to 6,000 innocent protesters were gunned down, and many more were imprisoned or mysteriously disappeared in the night. I lost many colleagues and close friends.”

– Tim Aye Hardy

Hi everyone,

Burma VJ. 2010 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary. Click to see the trailer.

It’s difficult to believe that in the 21st century, we still have governments that systematically (and with utter brutality) try to eradicate certain groups in their own countries… and that we as a world, allow it. The horrifying behavior of rape, violence, ethnic cleansing and mass atrocities is not limited to Sudan only. It is also disturbingly common in the Congo and Burma.

This Thursday July 1st, we are looking forward to Understanding Burma: An Evening With Tim Aye Hardy. Tim was born and raised in Burma and currently lives in New York. Barbara (co-founder of Living Ubuntu) met him during the 2009 Genocide Intervention Network Carl Wilkens Fellowship. It is sad that there has not been more coverage about Burma in our media and we’re glad that Tim decided to fly out and give us an overview of the situation in his homeland.

Why Burma

* 3.5 million internally displaced persons and refugees
* Myanmar Army is the world’s largest recruiter of child soldiers
* 3000+ villages destroyed by the Myanmar Army and 2,000+ political prisoners

* Systematic rape & torture of young children & women
* Aung San Suu Kyi is the the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Laureate who has been under house arrest for the past 14 years.

For trauma recovery to be truly effective on a global scale, it must join hands with human rights and political movements for social change. This is our effort to bridge these two worlds. Hope you will join us.

Barbara & Anshul
Living Ubuntu
livingubuntu.org | blog | facebook

Understanding Burma:
An Evening with Tim Aye Hardy

Thursday, July 1st 2010
6:45p Refreshments
7:00p Screening of Burma VJ and conversation with Tim

University Synagogue
3400 Michelson Dr.
Irvine, CA 92612

Cost:
Free

What is going on in Burma? How is a military machine of 500,000 soldiers able to deny a country of 50 million it’s most basic rights? Why has Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Price Laureate been under house arrest for over 14 years?

Join us for a screening of Burma VJ and a conversation with Tim Aye Hardy.

Visit http://livingubuntu.org/events for more information. If you’re planning to attend, please RSVP on the website.

* * *